7 Biggest Trades in Vancouver Canucks History, Ranked

Vancouver is a hockey-crazed market, so it’s no wonder that there always seems to be some sort of drama swirling around the Canucks.

And some of the most dramatic days in the history of the Canucks centre around blockbuster trades. 

Whether we’re talking about the deal to land the Sedin twins or the Roberto Luongo trade, the Canucks have made some whoppers in their 55-year history.

Here are my picks for the seven biggest trades in Canucks’ history.

Biggest Vancouver Canucks Trades 

1.  The Sedin Draft

Brian Burke was like a mad scientist at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. Knowing he wanted to draft both Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Burke made a series of deals to land the second and third overall picks. 

The first deal saw Burke send Bryan McCabe and a first-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for the fourth-overall selection. Burke then traded that pick and two third-round choices to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first pick in 1999. He wasn’t done.

Burke then traded that pick to the Atlanta Thrashers for the second-overall pick. Got all that? 

Holding the second and third picks in the draft, Burke drafted the Sedin twins, and the rest is history.

The Canucks built their team around the Sedin in the 2000s and went from an NHL betting long shot to one of the most consistent teams in the Western Conference. 

The Sedins rank first and second in Canucks’ history in games played, assists, and points.

2. Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld for Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek, and a Sixth-Round Pick

The Canucks were on the cusp of big things in the mid-2000s, but the consensus was that the team needed to improve its goaltending if it wanted to take the next step.

It was thought that Vancouver paid a hefty price for Luongo at the time of the trade, but it is now looked at in a very different light.

Luongo’s Canucks won two Presidents’ Trophies and were regularly one of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup when it came to the hockey betting lines.

Luongo is the franchise leader in just about every goaltending category, he led the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, and he is one of a handful of goaltenders to be named captain of their respective team.

3. Trevor Linden for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe, and a Third-Round Pick

This was an unpopular deal when it was made in 1998 because Trevor Linden was the face of the franchise, but it turned out to be a massive moment in Canucks’ history.

Not only did Bertuzzi become one of the game’s best power forwards during his time with Vancouver, but the Canucks turned Bertuzzi into Luongo and McCabe was a big part of the series of deals that landed the Sedin twins at the 1999 NHL Draft. 

In other words, the Canucks eventually turned Linden into the Sedin twins and Luongo. 

4. Alek Stojanov for Markus Naslund

This may not be the biggest trade in Canucks’ history, but it is the most lopsided.

Markus Naslund’s career seemed to plateau with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they were fine with trading the gifted Swedish forward because he was seen as surplus goods because of the presence of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Ron Francis.

Pittsburgh’s loss became Vancouver’s gain.

Naslund, along with Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrisson, formed the famous “West Coast Express” line, and he played a huge role in leading the Canucks out of a dark era in the late 1990s. 

Naslund finished his career with the third-most points in franchise history.  

5. Cam Neely and a First-Round Pick for Barry Pederson

Yikes.

Not only is it the worst trade in franchise history, but it would go down as one of the worst deals of this era.

Cam Neely looked like a promising player in his three seasons with the Canucks, but the front office gambled in order to land Barry Pederson, a dynamic centre who had two 100-point seasons under his belt by the time he was 24.

Pederson would never replicate those numbers with Vancouver, while Neely went on to become a franchise icon with the Bruins.

6. Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference, and a Third-Round Pick for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Kevin Weekes, Mike Brown, and a First-Round Pick

Pavel Bure was one of the most exciting players in Canucks’ history, but his tenure in Vancouver came to an ugly end thanks to a bitter contract holdout.

Bure sat out the 1998-1999 season until he was sent to Florida in a seven-player swap in January.

Ed Jovanovski was the biggest part of the return for Vancouver, but it’s really hard to win a trade when you’re the team sending away a player like Bure.

7. Rick Vaive and Bill Derlago for Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler

We conclude this list with another painful deal for Vancouver.

Tiger Williams was one of the most popular players in the 1980s, and he was an iconic figure in the league during that era, but Rick Vaive was clearly the best player in this deal.

Vaive became the first player in Maple Leafs’ history to score 50 goals in a season, and his 54-goal campaign stood as the franchise record until Auston Matthews broke it in 2021-2022.